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Xander Breakhead
Human male, born 5 Su'mo', LY 884, in Tonad. Don of LandOrder's Tonad branch. Xander is considered dim-witted by many people who don't know him well. He himself claims not to see himself as particularly bright, though he's clearly not as stupid as some people seem to think. He is, however, a fairly large, strong man, and one of the best hand-to-hand fighters around. He spent most of his youth bouncing between various street gangs in Tonad, before InterGang was formed in 899, when he was about 15. Its Tonad branch consisted primarily of one of the local gangs, the Victors, which at the time was led by Larami. Until she'd joined the gang as a spy a few years earlier, the Victors had rarely been particularly successful in their competition with other local gangs, though she is largely credited with turning it around. Shortly before InterGang was formed, the leader of the gang, Kane, retired, and Larami became the new leader. Xander had been an enforcer in the Victors for a few months, but Larami fired him when she took over. She said she didn't want anyone of such low intelligence in her gang, nor did she want any teenagers, as she believed it was time for gangs to enter a new era, to be taken more seriously than they had been in the past. As such, Xander was just one of several members she kicked out, while simultaneously recruiting members of several other local gangs, mostly former rivals of the Victors. It was shortly after that, that Larami was approached by Amelia about merging gangs from other villages to form InterGang. After that, InterGang quickly became more and more powerful, either absorbing other gangs or eliminating them, with virtually the only exception being Ass-Kickers Unlimited. Xander considered trying to join Aku, but its leader, Frag Topdog, had often enough fought against him over the past few years when they were in rival gangs. So that didn't really seem to be an option. For the next few years, Xander took various odd jobs, and sometimes resorted to petty theft. Mostly he lived as a street rat. When war broke out in 903, he considered joining the army, but they didn't want him because of his criminal record. However, he was aware that InterGang had been developing a rivalry with LandOrder in other villages, and thought that if that other gang opened a branch in Tonad, he might have a chance to join it, and improve his prospects in life. The trouble was, InterGang had a pretty solid hold on Tonad by that point, and no one who had ever been in any other, now defunct gangs, who weren't already working for InterGang, had any chance of getting together without quickly being quashed. Therefore, the idea of LandOrder even trying to open a branch there seemed to be a losing proposition, and one they weren't likely to attempt. Then, in early 904, Xander had two thoughts. One was that the upcoming second World Fair would be held in Tonad, and such a huge gathering of people, many of whom would be tourists from other villages, would present a much greater than usual opportunity for pick-pocketing, and any number of scams, theft, etc. He was looking forward to it, because he hadn't been having much luck lately, as the natives of Tonad tended to be extremely cautious in recent years. He just hoped he wouldn't have too much competition, when the time came. Not just from InterGang or Aku, but also from the many people just like himself, who couldn't find honest work because of their criminal pasts, and who also weren't wanted by InterGang. This led him to his second thought, which was that since there were so many former gangsters, who no doubt all felt it would be impossible to start a new gang... maybe it could work, after all. In the past, he'd always tried to imagine how such a gang could get started, and he'd always felt LandOrder would have to come in and take an active part in organizing them. Surely, if these people tried to organize themselves, with no outside support, they wouldn't stand a chance. Particularly considering how many of them came from former rival gangs, and might hold grudges against each other, such as the one that had prevented Xander from joining Aku. But after four or five years of frustration, and maturing, surely most of them would be willing to forget old rivalries and work together. The only problem would be how to organize without InterGang's spies catching on and stopping it. It occurred to Xander that all the added confusion and crowding of the World Fair would provide the perfect cover. And so, he scraped together what little money he could, and hired Carver to deliver a message to Don, of the Plist branch of LandOrder, explaining his plan, and begging for him to send perhaps a few spies to help improve his plan, give a few pointers, and then basically just watch from the sidelines, see what happens. He held no real hope of receiving a response of any kind, let alone actually getting the help he'd requested. Much to his surprise, Don sent one of his spies, Palzo, who proved quite helpful, and who was also impressed by the number of people Xander had managed to gather. Of course, there were never more than a handful in the same place at any one time, but he'd gotten quite a few to sign their names to a list of people willing to band together if LandOrder would be willing to even just let them use the name LandOrder for the gang they'd form here. Throughout the month of Su'mo', all the people on Xander's list worked independently within the crowds at the World Fair. InterGang, of course, had fully expected there to be a great deal of criminal activity going on by people other than their own gangsters, and it never occurred to them that this crime might be organized. By the end of the month, there was a fair amount of money pooled together by the petty thieves and dealers, and they agreed not only to split it evenly amongst themselves, but to offer up a percentage to LandOrder. Palzo declined any money, but promised to make a favorable report to his don. Don found Palzo's report impressive, and recommended to Capp, the capo of LandOrder, that they accept these Tonadians as their own. Capp agreed, and named Xander (at age 20) the don of the newly established branch, also sending him a few spies and Sorreters from other branches, to help him get started. It was actually a month or two after the World Fair ended that InterGang's own spies realized LandOrder suddenly had a presence in Tonad, much to the shock and annoyance of Larami. She was even more annoyed when she learned that its don was someone she'd once fired. Her opinion of Xander was not much increased by his having pulled this off, though of course she never learned that it had been his idea in the first place; she assumed the whole thing must have been orchestrated by LandOrder, most likely by Don, who she knew by reputation to be quite clever. In fact, Xander's own opinion of his intelligence never greatly improved, though it remains his proudest accomplishment. Ever since then, he has made certain to surround himself with people he does view as intelligent, and trusts their advice. When the surname law was passed in the month following the World Fair and the establishment of LandOrder's Tonad branch, Xander chose the name "Breakhead," saying it was because breaking heads is what he's always been best at. However, those close to him know that his choice is at least partially an attempt to perpetuate the idea that he's all brawn and no brains. After all, if there's one thing he does know, it's that it doesn't always hurt to have your enemies underestimate you.... Category:People